More than 500 million devices are now connected to the Internet here in the U.S., according to The Connected Home Report.

The Connected Home Report was compiled by Connected Intelligence, which is a part of the marketing research department of the NPD Group.

The NPD Group provides global tracking information and advisory services. You can follow them on Twitter at @npdgrp.

Surveys were made during the first quarter of 2013, of US consumers age 18 and over.

The report revealed how our use of computing tablets and smartphones has dramatically increased by 18 and 9 million devices, respectively  in just the last three months.

Of the smartphones being used, Apple and Samsung models are leading the way.

Apple devices also make up the majority of computing tablets being used when accessing the Internet.

Surprisingly, tablet computing devices used for accessing the Internet within households jumped from 35 percent just three months ago, to 53 percent today.

The number one household computing device connected to the Internet is a personal computer.

“Even with this extraordinary growth in the smartphone and tablet market, PCs are still the most prevalent connected device in US Internet households, and this is a fact that won’t be changing any time soon,” John Buffone, of NPD Connected Intelligence is quoted as saying.

It was reported, 93 percent of US Internet connected homes are using a personal computer.

However, for the first time, the total number of tablet and smartphone devices connected to the Internet is greater than personal computers.

I would also add networked security cameras, electronic monitoring sensors, home appliances, heating, ventilating, air condition systems, embedded vehicle devices, and home and business commercial power monitoring.

Of course, more could be added to the list.

The report found US households now average 5.7 smart devices which are capable of connecting to the Internet.

Yours truly has four personal smart devices I use to connect to the Internet: my smartphone, iPodtouch, Kindle tablet, and my MacBook computer.

I found numerous social media statistical tracking sites showing the current number of Facebook users worldwide between 963 and 984 million.

Here, in the US, there are an estimated 245 million people using the Internet.

February statistics revealed there were 165 million Facebook social media users in this country, according to Socialbakers Facebook statistical tracking website, http://www.checkfacebook.com/.

China’s version of Facebook is called, the Renren Network, meaning “Everyone’s Website.” It is reported to have an active user base of approximately 172 million. It is located at http://renren.com/.

When we look at China’s Internet statistics for December 2012, we find the world’s largest Internet population averages 564 million Internet users, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

China has a total population of about 1.3 billion.

In China, it was stated 398 million people use a personal computer for accessing the Internet, while 420 million are using a mobile device.

From what locations are users accessing the Internet from inside China?

The information survey states 92 percent of Internet users are accessing it from home, while 32 percent said during work, 22 percent are accessing the Internet from a cybercafé, and 16 percent responded it was in school.

Making use of a search engine was a close second, at 80 percent, and listening to online music came in at 77 percent.

China’s use of social media, blogging, and watching online videos, was tied at 66 percent.

In the US, statistics show 67 percent of us visit Internet social media sites, while 91 percent of China’s Internet users visit them.

Here, in the US, 43 percent of us browse social media sites using our smartphones, compared to 58 percent in China.

Looking back to 1995, there were an estimated 16 million users of the Internet, worldwide.

This year, more than 2.7 billion people worldwide will be using the Internet. This number represents almost 39 percent of the world’s population, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

These percentages and numbers will continue to increase, as more people use today’s and tomorrow’s yet-to-be-invented devices to connect with the Internet.

We will go on using the Internet for work, learning, entertainment, social and business communication; for interacting with the intelligent devices connected to it, and to explore and play in.